A HOSPICE honoured one of its most energetic fundraisers yesterday.

Ethel Dobson, from Bishop Auckland, celebrated her 70th birthday in December, but she has stunned workers at the town's Butterwick Hospice with the boundless energy she puts into raising money for them.

In the past year, Mrs Dobson has raised more than £1,500 for charities, through numerous ventures, including the Great North Walk in July.

Beryl Anderson, of the hospice, said: "Ethel never ceases to amaze us. She is always thinking of something to do.

"She just came in to present us with £70 and already she was thinking what she could do next. It's always something energetic she comes up with. She is an incredible lady with such enthusiasm."

This year, Mrs Dobson asked relatives to donate money to the hospice instead of buying presents for her birthday.

Every year she gives money to the hospice on her late husband's birthday.

The hospice had not been built when her husband died, several years ago.

Mrs Dobson says she got the fundraising bug when she was working at a school in the 1960s.

"I used to have a music club when the electric guitar was the thing," she said.

"I used to play records by The Dave Clark Five and the Beatles and charge the children a penny to listen, which would go to Oxfam.

"The boys would mime playing the guitar because none of them could play."